DB SF CH 5: The hint

Following his set program Raditz increased the rhythm and intensity of his training daily, every time until Gohan was on the brink of giving up, covered with bruises and with every bone is his body aching. Since that episode in sickbay there had been a small, but nonetheless evident change in the boy's attitude towards fighting: it seemed that he somewhat had awoken a passion for martial arts. Raditz noted some moves he hadn't taught him, he figured out that Gohan must have spied his father during his training. This moves were very similar to him, at least he was spared of the duty of starting from scratch and showing him every single thing.
The improvements were visible, day after day, and since he didn't cry and scream after every hit Gohan had also risen in Raditz' respectability scale.
"Hey, brat, faster! You gotta try to see through my movements! Yeah, better! Again!"
It was still a child's game far the warrior, but it even started to be fun. Once in a while Gohan was even able to doge one punch and to counter. In short, he was getting used to this.
Aside from the practical sparring the boy had to do also physical exercise, most for his rather sensible tail. Raditz remembered it with uneasiness how is brother had used this weak point against him, he was training it too, in case somebody else would use that strategy, whenever Gohan was busy with his exercises.

One day they were in the training hall as usual, when his comrade Nappa entered the room. He was visible drunk, Raditz smelt it instantly. But he guessed he didn't need his sensible Saiyan nose for that. He sighed, problems are rising. Again.
"Hi Raditz! Hows'ar doin'? Did ya work him trough? Wanna see it!" Nappa laughed as soon as he saw them.
"W-wait! Nappa! What are you up to? Hey!"
He was quite concerned about what was about to happen. The giant Saiyan was walking to his nephew, and he knew what he was able to when he was drunk like that. Not good. Ignoring the hierarchy he grabbed Nappas arm and told him with his most firm voice:
"Stop it please. That's not funny. He's tired. It's not worth it!"
Nappa hesitated for a split second- it seemed like he was thinking about it- but then he grinned again. He wanted to beat somebody up, and nobody would stop him now. He also knew that in this room he was by far the strongest.
"Shaddap! You better know your place!"
He crushed his elbow straight in Raditz's face; the crash had enough energy to send the man against the far wall. Raditz landed on his back and lost consciousness instantly, his nose started to bleed profusely.
Finally freed from that undesired weight he made some more steps towards the boy, who was trembling of fear. Seeing what he had done to his uncle, he could literally sense his energy.
"Hi! You trained really hard, didn't you? Well… come on… why don't you show me what this weakling had taught you! Hehehe…"
The giant stood directly above the boy like a mountain. He raised his fist left fist and let it swing down like a hammer, but it only hit the hard metal floor, the boy instinctively dodged it with a desperate jump. Now he stood behind the warrior, still quite puzzled how he had managed to do so, his body was faster than his mind again.
"What the…? There you are…! You are a fast little boy… I guess Raditz taught you well how to dodge…"
The addressed one was on his way to regain consciousness, and was more surprised than the boy. Even he wasn't able to follow this jump; he had trained the boy and was surprised of this..! But Nappa was far from being satisfied and continued the offensive. Again he tried to hit Gohan with his fists, but Gohan dodged them all. Only the last one was an almost hit, but even if Gohan was in guard, the shockwave was more that enough to catapult that kid trough the air.
It seemed that Nappa was now completely lost in his fighting game- he was visibly joking until now. But the game was over. A sphere of reddish energy appeared in his hand, his  target was the boy who was still struggling to stand up from that last hit. Gohan turned around, but he was too late to jump aside, the energy ball was already shot. The only thing he could do was to raise his small arms and brace for the impact. Another shockwave let him tremble, but there was no impact.
Something or somebody had stopped it before it hit. Hesitantly, Gohan opened his eyes he didn't know he had closed, and looked up. He petrified. In front of him there was his uncle Raditz, the arms extended and showing his back to the opponent. He took the hit with his back, his shirt torn and burned; he could smell the burned flesh.
"Uncle… Uncle Raditz…! Wha- why..?!"
"D-Damn… Outch… that… hurts like hell…!" he grinned at him, then finally he collapsed. Only now Gohan saw the impressive wound on Raditz' back, the smell got even worse. Some seconds of deafening silence followed this.
Only now Nappa had understood what had happened, but instead an apology he started to yell: "Hey, Raditz! What's up with that shit? You dare to get in my way? Idiot! I'm gonna make ya pay! And I'm gonna start with you, brat!"
"You… you asshole!!! Why did you do that? He is your friend!!!" started Gohans outburst of anger, Raditz scouter on the floor activated by itself and started to calculate the value. Nappa didn't have his by hand, so he wasn't warned of the fact that on this moment Gohan had a value of over 2000 points! Not that he would believe the scouter was working correctly …
Like an angered animal Gohan jumped at Nappa and let his feet connect full force with his face, the giant had to step back because of the impact and the surprise. Before he even knew what had happened he was hit by another kick in the stomach staggered, but he was easy regained his balance. He was more shocked by the surprise than the physical damage.
The boy was already out of breath, this outburst had consumed almost his whole energy. The only result of the two hits was a very angry Nappa, his face was a mask of fury and hate.
"You… joke! Insect…!! This… I'm gonna stomp you in the ground!!!"
There was no point in holding back, the body filled with rage he stormed forwards, Gohan was somehow able to dodge the first punch, but the following one hit him directly in the stomach. He screamed out in pain and coughed up a mix of saliva and blood, it seemed like the hit broke one or two rips. Before he even had the time to stand up Nappa kicked him again in the stomach, the impact hurled him against the ceiling. When he fell again on the floor he had already lost consciousness, it was his luck.
In the meantime Raditz was able to wake up and looked around. First he saw Gohan, then Nappa. Quite surprised he noticed the bruise on Nappas cheek, ho did that? Gohan? But he didn't have the time to think about that, his comrade was standing above the boy, ready for the final blow. But the pain on his back was still almost unbearable, let alone he could take on Nappa now. Was this the end of his time as an uncle..?
"NAPPA!!! STOP WITH THIS SHIT!!! IMMEDIATLELY!!!" A loud and demanding voice cut through this scene of desperation like a cold blade.
The addressed one froze on the spot and slowly turned his head in the direction this voice came from. He knew who it did belong to: a very pissed-off Vegeta. This was bad, he knew what was about to start now.
"V-Vegeta…?! W-What are you doing here…?!"
"That's something I wanted to ask you! Could you please tell me what as your idea behind this? First you get drunk, then you almost kill your comrades! Tell me- is that an acceptable behavior of a Saiyan nobleman???" The Saiyan prince had lowered his voce just a little bit, but it was still intimidating enough. And his angered face expression only increased that idea.
"Vegeta..! I… I was…"
"Stop it!!! Bring them to sickbay! NOW!!!"
"Y-Yes sir!"
Nappas face was red like a tomato, Vegetas anger let him almost pass his drunkenness. He grabbed Gohan and brought him out of the hall, continuously controlled by Vegetas stern look. Meanwhile Raditz stood up not caring about all the pain, now Vegeta surveyed him mistrustfully. As upright as his injuries allowed he passes in front of the prince, but he was stopped by Vegetas inquiry.
"You had quite a good luck. I was following the whole situation via scouter. That boy… for a few moments he had an impressive fighting power. How did you do that?"
Raditz turned around and met Vegetas gaze. "I'm not sure… the boy's the strongest when he's angry. It's him… I only taught him the basics."
"Hh-hm."
Vegeta turned on his heels and left the hall, Raditz followed Nappa to the sickbay. The time he reached it Nappa had already delivered the boy to the doctors and was about to left again. They met each other in the doorway, so did their gaze.
"I hope you are satisfied now, Nappa!" hissed Raditz.
"Shut the hell up!" was the response of the older warrior.
The moment Nappa had finally left the last energy reserves Raditz's were dried up and he collapsed on the spot. The doctor who was checking Gohan looked at him and shook his reptile head.
"Not him too… Good that there aren't too many left of them… me as a doctor would never get enough sleep with such patients…"

They put both Saiyans in two healing tanks and started the programs. The medical staff expected almost 6 hours of regeneration for Raditz, but for Gohan more than 12 hours. His injuries were severe, but once out of the tank he would not suffer from any consequences. In the meanwhile his body was robust enough.

Vegeta and Nappa met again the canteen and discussed the incident. The prince didn't care to hide his disappointment towards the lacking self-control of his underling. If the hierarchy wasn't already clear before that, now it would be visible even to a blind man. After a rough telling-off he finally changed the topic.
"Did you notice how strong this brat was?"
"Strong?! HE?" Nappa laughed out. "Tsk, he only hit me once, it was a lucky punch. I was caught in surprise."
"Once? I guess it was twice." Vegeta corrected him. "It happens to often that you are "caught in surprise", Nappa. I think that being a half-blood might be the cause if this extraordinary power. His power-level rises when he's angry…"
"And with that? As long as we are stronger, who cares?" made Nappa quite annoyed of that topic.
"Good idea, I'm impressed that you thought trough this." was Vegetas sarcastic answer. "Anyway. Even Raditz's power seems to have risen. Before your slight argument his level was 1840. That training seems to bring out his best."
"Pah. He can do what he wants, he'll be a weakling for life!!"
"True. I'm also concerned about his action today. Why didn't he let that brat just die?... He's acting strange. But… better we continue this discussion when he has recovered. Let's see what did his zenkai…"

6 hours later Raditz was released from the healing tank. As he stepped out of the chamber- still wet from the greenish regeneration fluid- he demanded a towel and inquired the doctor.
"Status?"
The doctor stepped beside him and gave his report. "Regeneration complete to 99,96%. The wound on your back was too deep, we weren't able to completely regenerate the skin. I fear that there will remain a scar…"
Hearing that Raditz involuntary tried to reach the damaged area and felt the raucous skin. "Well… Another scar in my collection. Scars are like a medal for a warrior, isn't so? And Gohan?"
The doctor picked up another computer-pad and red from it. "He had severe injuries. Classification polytrauma. Fractures on the skull, cerebral bleeding, seven fractured rips, fractured sternum, dislocated shoulder, pneumothorax, torn liver… Well, if he wasn't brought here he may have died in less than ten minutes…"
"How long?"
"At least still 6 or 7 hours."
Raditz took some deep breaths while he was watching trough the glass of the other healing tank. The boy was still sleeping and drifted motionless through the healing fluid. He knew that life can be over in a few moments, but if somebody would have told him that one day he will risk his life for saving his nephew, he probably would have first called him an idiot and second have killed him. And now… What the heck was happening…? Kakarot, was that your influence?
"…your comrades are waiting for you in Launch-bay 7-B. I brought you your equipment…" he was so lost in thoughts, but the last sentence woke him up.
"But… why all this hurry? We only wanted to start the day after tomorrow!"
"I seriously don't know. Please don't ask me"
The doctor stepped away, Raditz changed into his fullbody-armour, but his was still thinking about the new mission and his nephew. The mission was scheduled as "level A" with a scheduled duration of at least one month. Could he let him alone for such a long time? He had to contact Vegeta.
"Raditz to Vegeta."
"Vegeta. Finally! Move your ass, we have to start!"
"But why this sudden change? And Gohan?"
"Freezas orders. How's the brat? Has he recovered?" It was a trick question; he knew that he couldn't be.
"No, he still needs some hours…"
"Let him here then. Such a rookie would only slow us down. He ought to train. I'll make my judgment after our return. Vegeta out."
Raditz' smiled uneasy. And now? He looked back at Gohan, and then at the doctor, he had an idea. He grabbed a pen and paper from the doctor's desk and wrote a message. After finished he told the doctor: "When he wakes up and he's fit again, he should meet this guy. He is somewhat reliable… we will back in some 4 weeks, 5 the most. Tell him… tell him to survive the best he can. And to never give up. You'll see him many times here…!"
"Understood."
The Saiyan nodded and dashed out of the sickbay, Vegeta was not good at waiting.

Chichi started to regret to have kicked her husband out like that, slowly she begun to realize that she might have overreacted a bit. But she couldn't help herself; the only thing she thought about was her son. How was he? Where was he? What would those brutal aliens do with her baby-boy? And even if Goku will be able to bring him back, would he be the same as before? Another deep sigh.
She stood in the kitchen like the day Goku came with those terrifying news, and started to cook something. But as she tried to reach a spice in the cupboard accidentally she touched Gohans favorite cup with her elbow. Motionless she watched it falling down like in slow motion and breaking up in many pieces. Instantly she had the feeling it might be a bad premonition about her son… Did something bad happen?
"Gohan… please… please return to me…"
____________________________

Finally Bulma and her dad Briefs had succeeded in modifying the "Anti-G-machine" into a "High-G-machine". They had to install the whole machinery into a bunker, which was approximately 50 per 50 per 12 meters big. All the walls were built of extra-strong steel of the thickness of 1 meter, and it was accessible only by a heavy lock.
"Wow! It's great! When can I start?" busted Goku out as he entered the so called "G-bunker" the first time.
"Wow, slow down! First I got to introduce you to the system! You will be the user, so learn how to use it!" slowed him Bulma down.
"Yes… right… But, please... use simple words!" the Saiyan sighed.
Bulma laughed at that comment and started to explain the basics of the G-bunker, it's most important systems and operation devices. Near the lock there was situated the main control system, with many buttons and two small screens. Goku tried his best to follow her, even if most of the details sounded gibberish to him.
"… and here you select the gravity. With this arrows you can increase or decrease the G-factor. Actually it's obviously set on 1G, the normal gravity on Earth. There you can see the practical consequences like your calculated weight, and here the emergency-button. And here the com-system. You answer here and when you get called press this button…" she was about to explain, when Goku called bout for a break.
"Argh! Bulma! I got a headache! Just…let my try, please. What… how high can this machine go?"
"The maximum is 10G… but only for 10 hours in one row. After that it needs one hour to cool down."
"That's ok for me! Turn it on!!! Cant' wait!"
"Ok, OK! I get it! Just let me go out of here, I can control it from the outside too. And if you wanna hear a tip: start it slow! Your body has to get used to it first."
"Ok, understood. I'll do my best!" laughed Goku and started with some warm-ups. He was still wearing his heavy clothing and had brought also some weights. May the training begin! After Bulma had left he started the G-Generator and set it on 2G. Maybe it seems not much, but with his clothing his weight was 660 kg under normal circumstances, and now it rose to 1320 kg!
"Oh! Well… let's get it started!"
The young man begun running in circles around the inside of the bunker, then continued with push-ups and some crunches. It didn't take to long for him to feel how his muscles struggled under the new condition, but he continued. After two hours of continuous exercise they seemed to have adapted to the gravity somehow, so he went over to train punches, kicks and some kata. First without, then also with some weights in his hands.

He continued straightly for six hours, but then he was slowed down because… his stomach demanded some input. "Man, I'm hungry like a beast… and I've already eaten all my supplies…! I fear I have to ask Bulma for something to eat…"
He turned off the generator- because he remembered that otherwise he couldn't open the lock- and walked to the main-house in search of the kitchen. On his way he noticed that there was a visitor at Capsule Corp.
"Hey, Yamcha! How you're doin'?" he greeted the visitor as soon as he recognized his friend. The addressed one looked at him in surprise; his facial expression was clear evidence that Bulma had already told him the whole story.
"Hi, Goku! I… I only learned it now… I'm so sorry, man… what will you do now?"
"I'm training with Bulmas new invention! It can raise the gravity, so the training is much more effective! It's great!"
The human examinated his friend from head to toe, and nodded. "I can tell you look much more bulked. Telling the truth I'm curious about you new strength…!" Yamcha stood up from his chair, his expression was a clear challenge. He removed his yellow jacket and did come warm-ups. In that moment Bulma came back and noticed the two men, as they stood vis-a-vis, ready to rumble.
"Are you guys crazy or what?? You fighting morons, can't you just talk like normal human beings without showing-off your strength??? Be civil, in my house!!" she yelled at the two.
Goku noticed her on the spot and laughed: "Sorry…! Bulma, do you have something to eat? I'm starving!"
Unlike the Saiyan Yamcha didn't catch it and had already rushed to attack, his fist connected with Gokus unprepared cheek, but he noticed that attack only because it disturbed him while he was speaking. He only gave Yamcha a questioning look.
"What, do already attacked? But… please let me eat something now, I'm really hungry!"
"Ah… Goku..? Did you feel something now…?"
"I felt bit of pressure on the cheek. You didn't train much in the last time, he?"
"Actually… I did something, but… it's you who is too strong! Unbelievable!"
Goku scratched his head grinning and jumped in the first floor where Bulma was preparing a snack for them.
The men talked about the events of the last month, but the most time was reserved to enthusiasm about the new G-room and his new training. So it wasn't much of a surprise that the Saiyan wanted to return as soon as he had gulped down all the food on the table.
The human fighter felt like infected by this enthusiasm, so he asked: "Can I enter too? We could train together!"
"Sure! If you can handle it…"
"Just wait a moment, I got to change into a training outfit first!"
Bulma only shook her head. Since her boyfriend had that contract with the local Baseballteam, the "Taitans" she had hoped that he would let that fighting stuff be, but… she hoped in vane. He was so into it again like a child in a candy store. And now he even asked for a gym-outfit, she handled it him over with a face that should have shown her disgust, but Yamcha didn't notice it. Again.

The two fighters entered the G-room and set the gravity again at 2G, Yamcha couldn't suppress a small sound of surprise, but resisted without apparent problems. His pride was lucky to be ignorant of the fact that Goku was still wearing his heavy clothing. He invited his Saiyan friend at a small sparring, he attacked and Goku was defending, and vice-versa. First slowly, then faster and faster. After half an hour Yamcha was going all out, wile Goku did just start to sweat.
The sparring lasted little more than one hour, then Yamcha rose his hand in sign of surrender. He was breathing hard and sweating. "Goku… I need… a break… I'm done..!"
"OK… if you need it… I'll continue alone!"
The human sat down where he stood and tried to catch his breath again, in the meantime he observed Goku making some onehundred push-ups and crunches. Now he was sweating too, but it was nothing compared to himself.
"Man… I'm really out of shape…! I guess me weighting 140 kg all of sudden is not easy for the body… I never thought he would be so strong…!" he mused.
This hurt his pride, so he stood up again; he made some push-ups too and other exercises. This situation was somehow awakening the old fighting spirit inside himself he believe to have lost. Back when he had trained under Master Muten. And it felt good.
It lasted as long Goku had the idea to raise the gravity to 3G, Yamchas pride forbid himself to protest against it even if he was almost worn out. On top of his struggle now he had to deal with is tripled bodyweight! It wasn't a surprise that after half an hour Goku was again alone at doing his exercises.

The sun was already descending when Goku and Yamchu finally left the G-bunker. It had become quite chilling for May, but their overheated bodies were enjoying it, both stretched their limbs in the cool evening air.
"That was great… but tomorrow I will have sore muscles for sure…" grunted the human while massaging his aching shoulders. At the top Goku clapped him on the aching spot, what made him cringe.
"Thank you for your help, mate! I'm here tomorrow, and the day after… and the days after… So you can come again if you want! Do you know where Krilin is? I think it would be interesting for him too!"
"Maybe… You better call Master Muten…" he was told by Yamcha, who looked at his watch, slightly alarmed. "Oh shit… I gotta run! I have a game tomorrow, my trainer will kill me! See you, Goku! Bye!"
Said that he dashed in the house and returned some minutes later, now fully dressed, jumped on his motorbike and roared away.
"I guess he wasn't that tired after all…" smirked Goku. Then he yawned out loud and sniffed at something. He noticed the smell was coming from himself and his clothing. "Uh… I better get a shower before I go to eat…"
Officially he was homeless, as Chichi had kicked him out, so he lived at Bulmas house. There was no issue with space, the building was the headquarters of the famous "Capsule Corporation" and was big enough for more than 100 people, if necessary.